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enter image description here

  • Clicking the image might broaden your horizon.
  • There's a tag which, if added, would give away where this puzzle leads

    • Improve this question
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    10
    • 1
      $\begingroup$ steganography not needed? $\endgroup$
      – boboquack
      May 11, 2017 at 9:17
    • 7
      $\begingroup$ +1 for the hilarious image. I'm intrigued... No idea what to do but... intrigued $\endgroup$
      – stack reader
      May 11, 2017 at 9:49
    • $\begingroup$ Is it a painting? $\endgroup$
      – lois6b
      May 11, 2017 at 11:57
    • 2
      $\begingroup$ Turn it sideways and everything is a bunch of text characters. $\endgroup$
      – user34009
      May 11, 2017 at 18:59
    • $\begingroup$ @pie314271 maybe some kind of esoteric programming language :O. $\endgroup$
      – stack reader
      May 12, 2017 at 4:29

    2 Answers 2

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    11
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    Following a couple hints, we find:

    x
    This is from taking the letters in the original image that stand out,
    from left to right, as an imgur hash: Ooo0r
    (and also indicates the 'missing tag' is probably ).

    Transcription:

             Wfno htnf, ary outv
          vsqvff wlj pvbcpj!
           Npy js gadm dri
           tfno iaesarrj :)
    
    This may seem difficult but it
             sure isn't.
    Sometimes what you're looking
    for is right under your nose.

    The next step is obvious ...

    Decrypt the encrypted text.

    The hint in the image that what we're looking for is right under our nose should suggest the keyboard, and did; but keyboard, keys, and a few other things didn't work. I also tried mouth and lips and mustache and the like, similarly with no results.

    It turns out that the color of the blue block under the word "nose" in the image is actually hex #abcdef - which, like your keyboard, has the letters of the alphabet in it. @TechIdiot found the key "abcdef" and, at some prompting from OP in The Sphinx's Lair that blind guessing (or brute-forcing) the key wasn't needed, spotted the #abcdef color in the image.

    With the key in hand, we can now decrypt the message:
    Well done, you just solved the puzzle! Now go back and tell everyone :)

    So - Hey everyone, I have just solved the puzzle!

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    0
    4
    $\begingroup$

    is it

    a bad pun of "stick-up"?

    it is simple but we were told

    to not overthink it

    Improve this answer
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    2
    • $\begingroup$ Possibly, but I think there's a significance to the Stick family as it appears to be mom (long hair), dad (mustache), and twin children (shorter). $\endgroup$
      – Forklift
      May 15, 2017 at 19:14
    • $\begingroup$ Also, "real gun" may be a number pun? $\endgroup$
      – Forklift
      May 15, 2017 at 19:16

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